As my kids have gotten older and our life has gotten busier, my mom often comments that she never knows what we are doing, how the kids are, etc. because we don't chat as much as we used to when I was housebound and changing diapers all day! So, mom, as they say, "this post's for you."
I think this is supposed to be Thanksgiving vacation. I'll let you be the judge. I'm "vacating" something, but I'm pretty sure it's only my sanity!
Woke up this morning promptly at 6:30 (a half hour later than usual), hit the shower, ate a quick breakfast, and made lunches for Jeff and Payton, who accompanied me to work today because of an appointment nearby. An hour later, Jeff, Payton, and I head for the kids' school so Jeff can pick up his car, which we inadvertently left there on Friday afternoon following a meeting (long story, don't ask!). Dropped Jeff off at the school and headed to work with Payton. Spent three hours paying bills, answering phones, responding to e-mail, and fielding inquiries and noting observations made by Payton, who definitely will not be accompanying me to work in the future.
Left work at 11:20 (ten minutes later than we should have) to head to Payton's speech therapy appointment. Chatted with the therapist for about 20 minutes. She was great, and thankfully, Payton's lisp isn't extreme so it shouldn't take too many sessions for him to get over it and be done with speech therapy. Left the speech therapist's office and headed home. Made a pit stop for a certain nine-year old who didn't have to go the bathroom all morning but was "going to explode" if we drove another mile.
Stopped at the post office on the way home to mail two packages for work, only to find out that I had forgotten the packing tape. Stopped at the library to find a 125-page historical fiction book for Payton's next book report. Asked a very unhelpful children's librarian for help in finding such a book, then nearly lost MY mind getting Payton to make up HIS mind and just choose a book already!
Meanwhile, Brooke called and told me she didn't feel good and could Erin (the neighbor she was babysitting for the day) please stay at our house for the afternoon while Brooke "rested" and, since she'd be resting, would I please pick her up a certain movie to watch? A short time later, Sydney called to find out when I would be home and to inform me that Sawyer had turned into the devil incarnate while I was gone.
Arrived home. Refereed a few arguments, dealt with Brooke, who was feeling terrible but didn't think to take any medicine, sorted and threw in a load of laundry, emptied and reloaded the dishwasher, assured Sydney, who by now had assumed all babysitting duties, that she WOULD get paid since she was doing all the work. Grabbed the packing tape, headed back to the post office to mail the aforementioned packages. Made a stop at the library again to return some books I forgot on my first trip.
Returned home. Found out that the neighbor boy's mom had a "stone in her kidney" and was having surgery today. Could he play at our house for a while? Having done the kidney stone thing myself, what could I say? The more the merrier, why not? (This momentary lapse in judgment made for two hours of breaking up fights and micromanaging the Gamecube.) Made Sawyer and said neighbor boy a bag of popcorn for a snack and baked two loaves of pumpkin bread, which I wanted to give as gifts before the holiday. Changed the laundry around again, hung up some wet laundry, folded the dry laundry. On my way up to fold the laundry, wiped up a puddle of lemonade that somehow mysteriously spilled itself on the kitchen floor.
As the scent of baking pumpkin bread filled our humble abode, threw together some dinner and sent Brooke (who was feeling better) to walk Erin home. Jeff had a meeting at 4:45, and I had to leave at 5:30 for an eye doctor appointment with Brooke, so we ate in shifts tonight. Changed the laundry around again and headed out at 5:30 for Brooke's appointment while Jeff headed the opposite direction with Payton and a few other kids from church for Christmas play rehearsal. These "other kids" included two totally different neighborhood children who I had committed Brooke to babysit for tonight, forgetting that she had an eye doctor appointment. Feeling badly about that, I volunteered Jeff to haul them to the christmas practice and keep an eye on them for an hour. Needless to say, he was "thrilled".
Enjoyed a few minutes of peace while Brooke got her eyes checked then bit my lip and refrained from loud, exasperated sighing while she took just short of an hour to finally choose a new pair of glasses. Ran a few errands in Frederick, (bought a few christmas gifts and a pair of shoes) then swung back to Christmas play rehearsal to pick up the kids. Dropped off kids at their respective homes and finally pulled the van into the garage for the last time today. Changed the laundry again, wrapped the pumpkin bread in a festive "thanksgivingish" manner and jotted a quick note to its recipients. Sat down to check e-mail and say hello to my husband and find out how his meeting went. Paid the bills, comforted Sydney (who experienced chloraseptic for the first time tonight and was NOT impressed) then changed the laundry one last time and headed to bed.
And, just in case you're wondering, of course I completed all of these tasks with a christ-like smile and a song in my heart, while wearing a crisply starched skirt and a strand of graduated pearls. Feel free to call me "June".
June says: "Thank heaven for diet Mountain Dew!"
If you've never had the pleasure of viewing the movie "A Christmas Story", the VeStrands recommend that you make the time this christmas. It is one of our favorite holiday movies of all time!! In our home, it is not unusual to hear children exclaiming "Fra-gee-lay, it must be Italian!" or "You'll shoot your eye out with that." or "Show mommy how the piggies eat." or "I triple dog dare you!". Brooke has even included a red rider BB gun on her christmas list this year!! And I have already bought and wrapped Payton's pink fuzzy bunny costume! (wink, wink)
Payton completed this creative writing assignment in school recently. He got a 95 on it so I assume his teacher was impressed. I am again left wondering what really goes on in that boy's brain??
I'm sure all parents believe their own children are experts at bedtime stall tactics. It seems like no aches, pains, worries, or unquenchable thirsts show up at our house until bedtime. But as the years go by, our kids are having to get more creative with their "needs".
The "propaganda" began slowly and insidiously, but by the end of the movie, it was glaring and offensive--to me, anyway. The basic plot was how the "big, bad humans" (referred to as "aliens") are "stealing" fish from the penguins and leaving them to starve out in the cold, dark tundra of Anarctica. Subplots included how horrible we are to trap these animals in zoos and how human pollution is invading their pristine natural habitats. (One penguin spent most of the movie with six-pack rings choking him.) And, of course, God was portrayed as "the Great Guin", who "giveth and taketh away".
The pilgrims and indians of Liberty Christian School grade 1B.
Sawyer and mommy enjoying the feast.
One happy pilgrim!
One more happy pilgrim!
We carpool with another family to and from school each day; they have a daughter, age 10, and a son, age 8. They generally sit in the backseat with Payton. This morning, in the rear view mirror, I noticed all three of them sniffing their armpits. Then........
Yesterday, I had the very unfortunate task of going to the grocery store. This wasn't a matter of "wanting" to go but really needing to. Grocery shopping would be just about on the bottom of my list on a cold, rainy, windy Sunday in Maryland. But, the kids were complaining there was "nothing" to eat (which, in our house, means "we're tired of these snacks and want you to buy new ones."), and Jeff was headed out this morning for a "spiritual retreat" (which is a nice way of saying "I need peace and quiet for a few days so I can actually accomplish something.") and needed food to take along. So, I headed out. Neither rain, nor sleet, nor snow, nor wind, nor dead of night shall deter me from delivering groceries to my "starving" family.
Sawyer found out that the "hoop and stick" game is not as easy as it may appear.
As you can see, he thoroughly enjoyed the indian presentation!
We nicknamed this guy "Chief Saggy Skin" and let me tell you, he lived up to his name during the war dance! Thankfully, he was fully clothed. I heard that last year, he was wearing only a loin cloth, which was lovely during that same war dance!
The biggest cheesball in first grade!
The elections this year have been the stimulus for many interesting and educational discussions in our house. Jeff and I follow politics fairly closely and listen to all the radio talk show hosts (Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham) so the kids hear us talking about those things all the time. 
A few months ago, Payton purchased (with his own money), a book of gross jokes. What more could a nine-year old boy want? I have to admit many of them are funny, and Payton has gotten hours of fun out of reading and telling those jokes. But, in the interest of my sanity, now I pretty much tune him out when he starts repeating them because we have heard them over and over and over and over.......
With much fear and trepidation, I took Sydney for her first orthodontist appointment yesterday. In the few weeks since we learned that she would almost certainly need braces, all kinds of scenarios have played out in my mind. Things like "I'm going to have to flip burgers to pay for this." or "If I watch 'Ocean's 11' enough and take good notes, maybe I can figure out how to pull off the perfect robbery." or "Her teeth aren't THAT crooked. Besides, God looks on the heart, right??" 
As we were sitting there munching popcorn and milk duds, waiting for the movie to start, I leaned over and told Payton that I loved him. Without a moment's hesitation or even a sideways glance, my sweet oldest son said "Yep, what's not to love?" I'm thinking we need to dig out that Bill Gothard "Character Sketches" book and work on some humility.
All of this is surpassed only by my completely innocent and entirely naive youngest son recently asking me "Mom, when will MY nipples get fluffy?" Where was his pastor-father at THAT moment? Thankfully, he was satisfied with a very brief anatomy lesson, and he went back to his Nintendo.
